1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to the field of vessels and containers, and in particular, a device for holding a vessel.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
A variety of vessels are used for holding and containing liquids. Generally, vessels are used in laboratories, including research and development laboratories, hospitals and industries, for holding and containing liquids. Vessels may serve, for example, as a containment for a reaction of components, or a liquid storage device. Commonly used are vessels for containing reagents. The vessels may, for example, be provided in the form of a flask, beaker, or specifically configured shape to accommodate the reagents, byproducts, or conditions at which a reaction is to take place.
Often, it is necessary to agitate or stir the contents of a vessel. One stirring device uses a motor-driven magnet to drive another magnet which is placed inside the vessel. Other vessels are fitted with an agitation or stirring element which may be directly positioned within the vessel space and sealed from the exterior of the vessel. It is generally the case where a plurality of vessels are used at once. A vessel may be placed on a tray or plate for agitation. For example, magnetic stirrers are often used, wherein a vessel is placed on a plate, and a magnetic stirring element placed in the vessel. The plate may be part of a stirring device with a housing, a motor and a magnet provided to move the stirrer.
In many laboratories today, mixing in vessels is done on a flask tray with an orbital shaker. To hold the vessel in place on the flask tray, flask clamps are used. Unfortunately, flask clamps in the market today are very expensive. Moreover, more than one size clamp is usually needed since different size clamps are needed to fit different size vessels. A need exists for an improved vessel which may be stabilized when placed on a surface, such as, for example, a stirrer, agitator or surface of another device used for carrying out laboratory or analytical procedures, without the need of flask or vessel clamps.